Ties
by kathy20121
Summary: Set 6 years in the future. There's been 3 years since the last time Haru and Tsuna met. Now she's come back with Hibari whose reasons to return might not be of the best interest for the Vongola.
1. Reencounter

**Fandom: **Katekyo Hitman Reborn

**Pairing: **Sawada Tsunayoshi and Miura Haru. With mentions of Hibari&Haru and onesided Tsuna&Kyoko

**Timeline: **Six years after the original timeline

**Disclaimer: **Nope, I don't own anything

**Author's Note: **Hey there! This is my first time posting a fanfic. I hope you enjoy reading this and leave a review if you have the time, because reviews are love!

After some years, for the love of God, he still wasn't able to make a damn tie. It was a bit embarrassing that at 20 years old and after having had his fair amount of time wearing suits, especially for these week meetings Reborn had told them to organize for the sake of the cohesion of the family. It was frustrating; he really didn't want to keep asking for help for such trivial things, not after having shown to others and to himself that he wasn't that useless after all.

A bit mad, he desisted and threw the tie away. He kept himself away from the thought that was forming in his mind. The thought of his not being able to make his damn tie was nervousness that revolved around that very, very annoying girl who had punched him the first time they had met, the girl that kept pestering him around, the girl who wasn't there anymore.

He was more than aware that Miura Haru wasn't the same girl he had met when he was 14 anymore, which annoyed him somehow. At some point in the six years after accepting the title of the Vongola boss she gradually stopped coming around. Three years had gone by since the last time he had seen her, even then he could see the changes in her. Reborn had said something about her growing up and becoming a woman. One thing was certain, she wasn't as loud as she used to be, which he took as a sign that she had indeed grown up.

"You're still not ready as it is to be expected" a familiar voice said pulling him out of his thoughts. His little and fearsome tutor had just entered through the window.

"I still don't find a method to remember how to make a tie" the baby sighed.

"You should really pay attention when Kyoko or someone else helps you with that" he nodded. "So…" the tutor said changing the subject "after three years, you finally managed to bring all the family together" Tsuna gave away a half smile.

"It's not really something I should take credit of; it was Dino-san who was able to contact Hibari-san and convinced him to come"

"You hadn't made an effort to actually contact him either" pointed out Reborn. Tsuna knew what that meant. The tutor had always been able to see through his student. He shrugged.

"I guess people like Hibari-san… you just have to let them be. That's actually been Dino-san's strategy all these years and it's worked for him. It's worked for me too, so…" he got back to work on his tie after saying that. Reborn decided not to push the subject, he knew Tsuna would come along anyway, he always did. "But it's still incredible, isn't it? Haru…" and there it was.

"I guess" replied the tutor. "She's really defined the odds. I think it's because she's not the type to give up on what she wants unless that goal is really unreachable." Tsuna stopped for a moment, looking into his own eyes reflected in the mirror, Reborn lowered his gaze. An unreachable goal indeed.

"Dino-san says she's very happy and that even though he's still the same old disciplined and strong Hibari… he seems different at times… happier"

"And you should be happy too, idiot. Even when Hibari does stray away sometimes, he always comes back and Haru… she's actually stronger than any of us thought. Handling him, being his support, so change that look on your face, this is more a celebration than a meeting" the tutor reprimanded. Even if he didn't show it and would never say it, he was very glad Reborn was with him in times like this. A knock on the door was heard then.

"Come in" said Tsuna still struggling with the tie.

"No matter how much time passes by, I think ties are just beyond you…" another familiar voice.

"Ciaosu, Haru" Reborn greeted and not even with that sort of confirmation his brain was still able to compute that Miura Haru had just entered the room. She was smiling bright, very bright. Her hair was shorter, she was taller… more beautiful. "I think Tsuna could use some help"

"Oh, yeah" she said coming closer to a bewildered Tsuna who was still registering the scene. Reborn smiled and without saying anything else, he quietly left the room. "It isn't that difficult, you know… see, already done. Perfect" she said taking in her job and encouraging him to look at himself in the mirror.

"I don't remember you being this good at making ties" he couldn't believe those were the first words he had said to her after three years.

"Well, it is true that even when I used to help dad, I wasn't very good, but Hiba likes to wear ties, so I guess people are right when they say that practice makes perfect" she smiled, he tried to. Something didn't feel right.

"So it is true then…"

"Hahi?" he couldn't restrain himself from laughing a little. Now that he had her before him he really could understand how much she had grown, but she still kept saying 'hahi' the same way she used to. He wondered how Hibari took that.

"You and Hibari-san" Tsuna explained after regaining his full composure. She nodded immediately.

"I think I'm going to be getting that a lot today. Especially since no one would dare to ask him" they both chuckled. "I know that to a lot of people he's scary, and to Haru, he was at the beginning, but… one day he just let Haru in and… Haru was very grateful for that, and that made her very happy" he couldn't have asked for a more honest answer. "I've started talking in the third person again, he hates it when I do that" she smiled. "He's amazing" she said after seeing Tsuna's worry eyes. "I know it may seem impossible, but we…" she shrugged. "I really love him from the bottom of my heart." He found himself gulping at that. "I kind of got my wish, didn't I? I'm with someone who's in the mafia." His eyes widened. He was brought back to the past for some seconds and remembered how she was always going about how she was going to be the wife of a mafia boss. "But I wouldn't change a thing" there it was again, that sincerity that was sort of asphyxiating to him. She decided it was the best moment to leave, that conversation wasn't going to lead them anywhere.

"I should go… actually, you should go too. Everyone is waiting. Kyoko-chan is downstairs too." He closed his eyes at that remark. She quickly headed for the door.

"I'm really sorry" he said stopping her. "I… I wanted to…"

"No" she said interrupting, her back to him. "Don't… I'm the one who should be sorry" she said turning around to face him. "Truth is I was always chasing you while you were chasing someone else." He just wasn't able to hold his gaze just then.

"It's not much of a nice feeling when you realize that a person you thought you had figured out is just… not the way you thought he or she was…" she gave him a small smile. "Feeling that that person has gone far away from your grasp"

"People change, perspectives change. One day I realized you called Sasagawa Ryouhei 'oni-san', I realized every time you watched Kyoko-chan it seemed as if you were surrounded by sunshine and then I knew… I just knew I would never be able to cause that kind of reaction in you and it hurt a lot at the moment, because… I was fourteen and…" an awkward silence filled the room; he didn't know how he felt anymore. She was actually quite proud of herself; if this had been her fourteen year old self she would've cried, but not anymore. "I just want you to know that… to me, you were more than just a crush… maybe that's why it struck me really hard when you told me you were a mafia boss and everything that had happened and was happening. I remember thinking to myself: 'if something happens to him, I don't know what I would do…' and I remember that horrible feeling of not being able to protect you from that. I still think the same about Hiba, but he's invincible" she said chuckling. "But I think in the future… it was there when I realized I was really in love, but I couldn't pour my heart just like that, so I decided to keep playing 'the fangirl'" she smiled "I think that was a mistake. No… sorry, it wasn't. I wouldn't have my Hiba if I hadn't made the decisions I made." Tsuna nodded, his eyes stuck to the ground. "Now, come on. Everyone's waiting." She said heading for the door.

"All I'm doing is trying to reach an unreachable goal" she took a deep breath, her back to him again. "If I could go back, I would…"

"No, you wouldn't" she said, her back still facing him. "Our decisions make us who we are. The decision to make certain ties with people. All of us wouldn't be here if you hadn't decided to create those ties with us." She got closer to him. "Tsuna-san, you are probably the kindest person I've ever met. And I know I'm a little crazy and hyperactive." He thought of it as an understatement for her to think of herself as a _little_ crazy. He chuckled a bit "and even I could see it, so don't try to rush it. You have more important things to do anyway." He nodded, but still, he felt like he was back to the days of 'no good Tsuna' for not realizing something that was right in front of his eyes. There was a knock in the door.

"Excuse me, Tsu-kun" it was Kyoko. "Oh, you're fine. Everyone was getting worried because you were taking so long"

"I'm sorry. I'll be there in a minute. You two go ahead." Kyoko smiled and nodded and headed for the door, Haru followed. She was still worried about Tsuna, now he seemed even more shaken than before their talk. "I'm fine. Don't worry" he said with a smile, which she tried to return.

"Ok. I'm going to trust you" he nodded and she got out of the room. He looked at himself in the mirror. He had to put his act together; he wasn't a middle-schooler anymore and he had made his decisions, whether they had been right or wrong, the man he was now had to take responsibility for them and learn to live with its consequences for his sake and the sake of his family.


	2. Suspicion

**Author's Note: **Oh, I forgot to add this. Thanks so much to the people who left a review and read. It means a lot to me. Again, I'd like to hear from you. Thanks a lot!

"He said that?" Tsuna asked Dino who had nothing left but to chuckle. Tsuna did the same. "Can't you convince him? I really need everyone to be present at the table. Besides, everyone is excited to see everyone come together again."

"Don't worry" the blond Cavallone said. "I spoke to Haru. Apparently, he's developed other manias over these last three years and one of them is Haru's cooking. He can't eat anything other than her cooking. So, she's already down at the kitchen with Kyoko and Bianchi. She convinced him to endure a meal with such a number of people. In all honesty, people used to say I had a power to convince him, but that was nothing compared to what that girl does to him." Tsuna nodded uncomfortably, his eyes getting stuck to some unimportant papers on his desk. He cleared his throat.

"So, do you think he'd accept going to Italy?" Tsuna asked changing subjects.

"Sure. It might not seem like it, but he respects you. You just have to ask nicely." The young Vongola gave away a dry smile while going through some papers.

"It unsettles me sometimes, Hibari-san. You weren't there, but he said once that he would one day bite up the sky itself." Dino wasn't able to restrain a laugh, Tsuna finally looked up, he really seemed upset.

"You're letting your imagination get the better of you. Besides, this is unlike you, why are you so mad and calculating about Hibari?" Tsuna shook his head.

"It's nothing." He got up, the tie was suffocating him. "You're right. I'm focusing all my frustration on Hibari.-san" Dino looked at him inquisitively. It was only in times of great distress for Tsuna to do that.

"I didn't know Varia had you so stressed out." The blond mafia boss pointed out.

"It's not that, I'm… this is momentary. I'll be fine once I talk to Hibari-san."

…

Hibari Kyoya had never been a people person. Been around a large amount of people seemed downright pointless and boring, but he had figured three years without seeing the herbivores was more than enough, that and Haru's insistence. He had always been weak to cute, little things, that was the reason he always took a liking on small animals, that was the reason he had taken a liking on her. It still seemed odd to put it that way.

And she was the main reason he was now standing in one of the numerous halls of the Vongola mansion Sawada Tsunayoshi had chosen as headquarters. It seemed that everyone, including non-guardians lived there. It was definitely too crowded and he really felt like biting someone to death; he was definitely going to get back at the prancing horse for making Haru side with him.

"Hibari!" someone enunciated from behind. Before he knew it, an arm had settled around him and was squeezing him.

"Yamamoto Takeshi" he said, getting a perfect, white teethed smile from the baseball freak. "I'll bite your arm to death if you don't remove it now" he laughed. There were many things he didn't understand in this world, and one of them was Yamamoto Takeshi. Why did he find everything to be so funny?

"Ara, ara…" he said unlinking his arm from the cloud guardian and revealing a drink in each hand. "You don't have to be so cold. We haven't seen each other in a long time and that's the first thing you say?" He drank up, Hibari decided to follow. "But I'm glad you came. It's nice to see everyone being brought back together, and it's not because of a tragedy for a change." He had to agree.

"Have you become any stronger?" he asked startling Yamamoto. Hibari was curious because he knew he had potential; he had proven himself worthy when they had been to the future, and he rather fight him than Sasagawa Ryohei.

"I suppose so, but I'm not ready to die at your biting just yet" he said with an unfaltering smile. Hibari nodded. "So… where's Haru? I haven't seen her yet"

"I think she's down at the kitchens." He answered busying himself examining the place.

"You're a lucky guy" Yamamoto pointed out before finishing his drink.

"What do you mean?" he asked pretending disinterest and turning his back to keep on exploring.

"Haru… she's a good girl. I spent a lot of time with her when we were younger. She used to be at Tsuna's all the time."

"Hmm…" was the answer he gave, his back still to Yamamoto who took a hint. Hibari was never one to talk about his feelings.

"So… we were all very surprised when we found out you had moved out of Namimori"

"I didn't move out" he said facing him again. "I needed to sort some things out, but I'm coming back as soon as possible." Yamamoto gave out a small nervous laugh. With the Xanxus problem, it was highly probable that he were to be sent to Italy and talk to them. Hibari being his observant self noticed it, but decided to pay no heed.

"The baby told me all the guardians have been gathered here today. This could be interesting"

"And it's going to get more interesting when I finish you off, you traitor." That hasty attitude could only belong to one person.

"Gokudera Hayato." Hibari enunciated turning around to find the cloud guardian with some explosives in his hands. "I thought you had already given up on using those"

"Ok, ok. We really need to calm down." Yamamoto intervened pulling Gokudera away from Hibari.

"What do you mean calm down?" The bomber asked struggling to break free. "This bastard has been missing for three years, we don't know what he's been doing, but everyone receives him with open arms and makes this a fucking celebration. Am I the only one to see what's going on?"

"And what is exactly going on, Gokudera Hayato?" Hibari asked composed.

"Well, as reckless as octopus head might be, he's quite right. We don't know what you have been up to all this time." Ryouhei had appeared from behind the rain and storm guardians. "And I'm about to find out to the extreme!" Hibari felt like yawning.

"You're right, you shouldn't trust me." He said calmly.

"See? He's up to something" uttered Gokudera still fighting to release himself from Yamamoto.

"On one hand I'm not on Sawada Tsunayoshi's side nor am I part of any family of his. On the other hand, you represent no threat to me, but if you keep crowding…"

"Got it" said Yamamoto dragging both Ryouhei and Gokudera back to where they had come from.

"Herbivores" he said watching the scene.

"Now, now, you've been here for an hour and you're already fighting someone?" Dino asked as the three guardians disappeared from sight.

"That's none of your business." He said walking away.

"Oh, wait up!" the blonde called making him come to halt. "Tsuna wants to speak personally to you after lunch."

"I figured as much" was Hibari's dry answer.

"Play nice, ok? There are a lot of things on the guy's head right now."

"You're not one to give me orders." Dino smiled, that kind of answer was typical of him. "But I'm looking forward to talking to him again"

"Are you going to tell him about what you've been doing these last three years…?" Hibari stood there with a stoic look on his face that gave Dino chills.

"He doesn't need to know. Neither you nor anyone for that matter." Having said that, he took his leave.

_You weren't there, but he said once that he would one day bite up the sky itself._

Could it be that…?


	3. Confliction

**A/N: **Thanks so much to everyone who's read and reviewed, I really hope you like this and if you have the time, leave a review, I'd love to read your thoughts on the story =)

* * *

Down at the kitchens, 20 year old Miura Haru was fidgeting, which made extremely difficult to hold a knife, especially while she was making a use of it. She had mentally prepared herself many times over for that inevitable meeting with Tsuna, but seeing him so out of place, without ground had unsettled her and that was precisely what she couldn't and wouldn't allow now. She was happy, she was fine, she had Hibari… she wouldn't let anything nor anyone come in between that.

"Ouch!" she said feeling a small amount of stinging pain in her finger. Turning her attention to it, she saw blood.

"Oh, here." Said Kyoko reacting faster and approaching with a kitchen cloth to stop the bleeding, "there are some bandages around here" she said looking for them in the cupboard. "Here they are" she handed one to Haru, since the wound wasn't very deep. "What are you thinking?" she asked startling Haru.

"What do you mean?" She didn't understand where the question had come from.

"It's just we've cooked together many times and you were never one to lose concentration and cut yourself" explained Kyoko. Haru stayed silent for a minute before coming back to her chopping. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, not at all" she said quickly, a little too quickly, reason why it didn't come across as convincing. "I'm just nervous. I disappeared for three years with a guy no one even knew I had a relationship with and… it's a weird feeling, coming back." Kyoko nodded and came back to her cooking as well.

"I don't mean to be noisy, but… what were you guys doing for three years?" Haru couldn't repress a chuckle. It was painfully obvious she was nervous.

"Hahi? Humm… we traveled a lot. Hiba said he needed to sort some things out and asked me if I wanted to come along, so I agreed and… there isn't much to tell really, but it was really good. I loved every second of it." Kyoko smiled. "But I'm more interested in knowing what you guys have been up to. Do you live here?"

"Yeah, oni-san asked me to come and live here. He said it would be safer and I agree. It's a very nice place; Tsu-kun has really good taste."

"Your hair's longer too. I love it"

"Really? Mochida-san told me I should let it grow, so I decided to give it a try. I'm glad you like it." She said running her fingers through it.

"Mochida?" Haru asked inquisitively.

"Ah" Kyoko answered lowering her head, busying herself with the food and blushing like mad. "He was a sempai of ours back in high school. I'm… we're d-dating" she said in a significantly low, but audible tone of voice. Haru felt conflicted, mainly because of Tsuna.

"That's great!" The brown haired girl said trying her best not to look confused. Kyoko gave her a big, bright smile. Someone came through the door just then.

"Oh, Bianchi-san!" The other girl exclaimed to the woman entering the kitchen. "I was wondering if I can leave this to you, it's almost ready and I need to make a phone call, plus I'd like to set up the table this time."

"Sure, go ahead." Kyoko smiled and left the room. Haru's nervousness came back. The expert food poisoner had always been able to meet her like a book. "So, the girl came back" Haru gave her a nervous smile. "Come here" she said pulling her in an embrace. "You really made us worry"

"I know, I'm sorry" she apologized. Bianchi pulled away.

"It's ok. You found true love. People should do anything to pursue it when they know it's there." Haru stood there eye widened. "What is it?"

"N-nothing, it's just… I know everyone knows about me and Hibari, but… true love…" she said almost to herself. Bianchi's laugh made her come back to reality.

"Look, I know what love looks like and it looks like this" she said pointing at her. "I mean, look at you, you're more beautiful than ever, you're radiant. To think that hate crowding maniac would be able to pull this off…" Haru felt how heat took over her cheeks. "You're really in love, aren't you?" she nodded in response, Bianchi smiled. "So… have you seen anyone yet?" she asked busying herself with the food left by Kyoko.

"Yeah, I met Reborn-chan and… Tsuna-san" Bianchi looked at her inquisitively. "What has exactly been going on here? I honestly thought I was going to find a married couple, maybe even with kids, but reality gave me a girl in love with a sempai from high school and a very frustrated guy…" Bianchi sighed and looked away for a moment.

"Things haven't flowed quite perfectly for Tsuna, not in his personal life at least. I think in his head, all those years ago he thought he would accomplish what you thought you would encounter, but the truth was that Kyoko never thought of him that way. She does care about him, and they have gotten closer, but she's mainly here for her brother, not Tsuna." Haru closed her eyes for a minute.

_I wouldn't change a thing…_

She stood by that thought, and she would for the rest of her life, but she had felt something so strong for so long for Tsuna that knowing he was suffering and that she had added to that state with their previous conversation made her feel ill.

_If I could go back, I would…_

Of course, she wasn't about to plunge herself in a fantasy where they could be together because he apparently had come to realize there was no future with the girl he had dreamed of a large part of his adolescent life. Besides she wasn't about to give up on Hibari either, she just wasn't.

"But don't let that get you down." Bianchi said cheering her up for her expression was gloomy. "You can't push love. Take yourself, for example. Who would've said the cloud guardian, the one that neither nothing nor anyone can bind, was going to be tied up to you?"

"He's not tied up to me." Haru corrected.

"Oh, listen to me, and listen well. When a man as freed spirit, who doesn't let anyone tell him what to do as he is agrees to do things he wouldn't normally do because a girl asked it of him, he IS tied. Everyone knows how much he hates crowds; that's why everyone was so surprised when he accepted to come. I asked the prancing horse about it, he said you'd convinced him. That's true love." A smile was instinctively drawn on her face, she didn't know much about love, and therefore she had never thought about it that way.

"But" she said, the smile fading away. "Tied is too much of a strong word for me, it makes it sound as if I'm forcing him…"

"Don't worry. They say they don't, but when they're in love, man love to be tied to that special person." The smile came back. She missed Bianchi, as amazing and indescribable as the last three years had been next to Hibari, he missed Bianchi who had always been a great friend and the rest of the Vongola family. And now, Bianchi's words had made her resolution stronger and unfaltering.

…

From a distance, Chrome Dokuro hadn't changed a bit in the last three years. She was standing by a window, the perfect amount of light hitting her face. She still spaced out, he thought, given that the girl didn't seem to take in his presence. She still looked like a week, defenseless animal, though if she really wanted it, she could even send shivers down his spine, which he would never admit, the source of her powers being the only person to have deprived him of his pride, Rokudo Mukuro. And her undying devotion towards him, though understandable, it was still sickening.

"Long time, no see." He said startling her. "Chrome" her eyes widened and she went rigid.

"C-cloud man…"


	4. Dwelling on 'what ifs'

**A/N: **I want to thank everyone who's read, reviewed, favorited or alerted the story, it makes me really happy. Also, I know the ending of last chapter was a bit... unexpected? And there's a reason for it, not everything is what it seems... (?)

* * *

He leaned on the wall taking in her full form.

"What do I have to do for you to stop calling me 'cloud man'… cute Chrome?" She became flustered and even more rigid if that was possible. Hibari chuckled and got closer. "This is the coldest welcome I've gotten and that includes Gokudera Hayato's attempt of an explosive attack." He could feel she was on the verge of having some sort of attack. He just couldn't figure out why after all this time she could still think he would hurt her.

"Y-you disappeared without s-saying a word. N-no one k-knew anything…" she said in a small voice. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a moment.

"I know it must've seemed odd, but it was necessary." She frowned upon hearing that. "Do you remember what I told you the last time we met?" Her eyes widened. He nodded. "I'm not the kind of man to break a promise. I thought you would know that by now." She stared at him, which made him uneasy. Sometimes it seemed as if she could see right through anything, right through him and it scared him.

"B-but… while I appreciate it… three years…"

"…is an awful long time." He said finishing for her. She lowered her gaze, but he took her chin and made her look up. "I'm sorry" he said wholeheartedly. She gave him a small smile.

"Everything's ready then?" she asked nervously. He nodded. "Can I go with you?" he chuckled taking a strand of her hair from her face and placing it where it belonged.

"It's too dangerous and I'm already being looked at. Everyone thinks it's weird I disappeared for three years and no one knows nothing of what I was doing. Their suspicions can easily turn into investigations and taking you with me would take things to that point. Besides, Sawada Tsunayoshi wants to ask something of me, I have to take care of that first, but trust me, it'll all be over soon." She smiled again.

"Thanks a lot for doing this… Hi-Hibari-san." He smiled as well.

"Don't worry, but remember: I'm doing this for you, only for you"

…

Sawada Tsunayoshi had always considered himself as a simple person; he had always wanted to lead the simplest of life, go by unnoticed, worries free. Apparently, life had planned different even before he was born, and no matter how many years there had been since he had accepted to lead the Vongola, there was always a part of him dwelling on the alternate life he could've lead. As the voice of conscience, Reborn instinctively appeared in his head scolding him. He'd totally deserve to be kicked by his tutor, he thought, a small smile appearing in his lips.

Surprise was reflected on his face as he realized he was in front of the kitchen's door. He decided to go in and have a snack; he knew he'd be eating soon, but it was better to face that crazy family of his with something in his stomach.

Humming a tune he headed for the fridge. He jumped up when he heard metallic utensils making contact with the floor. He looked behind him to find Haru flustered trying to arrange the mess she had made.

"Haru" he called out coming closer to her. "Sorry, did I scare you?" he asked while helping her pick up some things.

"A bit" she answered. "This house is too big, so you never know what you can find, and I thought it could be a rat or a ghost" Tsuna let out a small laugh.

"I assure you there are no rats… I hope" he pointed out looking around. "I don't know about ghosts though" Haru laughed as well. "Are you done with that? Do you need any help?"

"It's alright. It's finished. Hiba should love it" she said with a broad smile, he nodded. "I should take this to the table" she took the tray in her hands ready to leave through the door he had come through, but he blocked her way placing his hands over her knuckles that unconsciously griped the tray tighter.

"Wait, I need to talk to you about something. Actually I need to ask you something." He explained with a graver voice. She looked at him wide eyed.

"Hahi?" he made her let go of the tray and placed it on a table.

"It's about Hibari-san" he answered getting her full attention. It was like a magic trick, he thought, the way her eyes gleamed at the mention of his name. It was so subtle that it would've been easy to overlook, not him though. When had _he_ become so observant? "I know this might be uncomfortable, especially because you two have just come back, but I need to convince him to travel to Italy and do a small job, it should be easy, especially for him and it shouldn't take long"

Haru lowered her gaze. Tsuna knew he was probably shattering illusions of renewed normal days she was planning to spend with Hibari, but he also knew she was an understanding person, she had been when he had revealed he was the head of the most powerful family of the underground society, she had stood by him during hard trials, so he knew she would understand that that was Hibari's job as a Vongola guardian.

"You want me to persuade him in the possibility that he refused, right?" she said, her eyes meeting his. He looked at her apologetically. "It's nice to have people think Haru has such a power of convincing over Hiba-san." Tsuna shrugged taking a seat and urging her to do so as well.

"I had heard some things, but I was sold when Dino-san told me he had agreed to be at the table with all of us because you had asked him to" her cheeks were tinted with light crimson at his statement.

"From what I pick," she started, "this job assigned to Hiba is very important to Tsuna-san, and to the family too… probably." She paused for a moment. He waited patiently for her to continue. "So, if it's necessary, I'll speak to him" Tsuna's shoulders relaxed at her response, she noticed it and smiled at him.

"Thanks. You have no idea how important this is" she nodded.

"I should get going. I need to set this at the table" she said getting up and taking the tray in her hands again.

"Don't" he said stopping her. "Just go straight to the table, I'll have someone else taking this" Haru frowned at his words. He was still acting weird and his tie was a mess.

"You'll never learn, will you?" she said approaching him, her hands straightening the knot and soothing the rest of the fabric. Tsuna merely stared at her. "And don't mess with it again" she ordered as one of the corner of his lips lifted. "I'll leave you to it, then, the tray and whatever you came to do" he nodded and she headed for the door. "You haven't changed much, Tsuna-san" she said turning around, "you've just told yourself you've come to terms with everything when you haven't" she told him, no ill will in her voice or eyes. The door closed behind her leaving him the feeling that she couldn't be more right.

…

He praised himself for the decision of not facing this meal with an empty stomach. As he sat on one of the ends of the table he found himself thinking how everything had changed in six years, how easily people like Yamamoto had coped with the idea of being placed in this kind of dangerous and cruel life.

At his right sat Gokudera, who had spent a couple of years proud at getting the official title of the tenth's official right hand. At his left was Yamamoto, one of the only people in the table capable of smiling brightly when there was nothing left to smile for. At the moment he was trying to engage in conversation with a very serious Hibari who seemed to be waiting for the slightest provocation to 'bite someone to death', Haru's hand over his seeming to cool him down; looking at him made Tsuna as nervous as the thought of Rokudo Mukuro bursting through the door. Chrome was sitting across Hibari, her arms wrapped around herself, looking more scared than usual. The Sasagawa siblings were talking lively with Mochida, Lambo was playing with Fuuta and Reborn was on Dino's shoulders and chatting with Bianchi.

An almost smile came to his lips at the sight of his family. He didn't really know if it had been destiny, he just knew he had to lead them and protect them without living on the thought of 'what ifs'.

As he stood up, thinking about the meeting he'd be holding with his cloud guardian after the meal, he convinced himself he would make everything alright for those surrounding him.


End file.
